πώρωσις (pōrōsis)
pōrōsis
hardening
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 3 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The noun pōrōsis describes a physical hardening, like skin developing a callus from repeated friction, which the New Testament applies to the human heart and mind. In Mark 3:6, this hardness is shown as a stubborn refusal to recognize Jesus’ authority, leading religious leaders to plot against Him. It signifies a dulling of spiritual perception where the mind becomes unresponsive to truth.
Paul uses this term in Romans 11:25 and Ephesians 4:18 to explain how people can become insensitive to God’s message over time. In Ephesians, it describes Gentiles who have lost their moral sensitivity, with minds darkened and alienated from God’s life. The word captures a gradual process of becoming spiritually numb rather than a single act of rebellion.
This concept highlights the danger of persistent rejection of divine truth. When individuals repeatedly ignore spiritual prompts, their capacity to perceive God’s voice diminishes. The sources emphasize that this hardening is both a consequence of choices and a condition that makes future repentance more difficult, illustrating why early Christians viewed spiritual sensitivity as something to be actively maintained.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word pōrōsis describes a gradual dulling of spiritual perception, much like skin thickening into a callus from repeated friction. In Mark 3:5, we see Jesus grieved by this hardening in the hearts of religious leaders who refused to recognize His authority. It is not merely a single act of rebellion but a slow process where persistent rejection of truth makes the mind unresponsive to God’s voice.
Paul uses this concept in Romans 11:25 and Ephesians 4:18 to explain how people can become insensitive to divine messages over time. In Ephesians, he links this hardening to minds that are darkened and alienated from God’s life. This highlights the danger of ignoring spiritual prompts, as our capacity to perceive God diminishes with each refusal.
Understanding this word reminds us to actively maintain our spiritual sensitivity. It is a call to stay responsive to God rather than becoming numb through habit or pride. May we approach Scripture with open hearts, allowing truth to soften any areas of resistance, and find hope in the grace that restores our ability to hear Him.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 3 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- hardness2×
- a hardening1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- πώρωσις1×
- πώρωσιν1×
- πωρώσει1×
Key Verses
-
Mark 3:5
When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
This verse shows Jesus’ personal grief at the hardening of hearts, linking the condition directly to a refusal to recognize His authority.
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Romans 11:25
For I don’t desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you won’t be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,
Paul reveals that Israel’s partial hardening is a mystery tied to the inclusion of the Gentiles, showing it as part of God’s broader redemptive plan.
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Ephesians 4:18
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.
Here, hardening is explicitly connected to darkened understanding and alienation from God’s life, illustrating its isolating effect on the soul.